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Fortnite
Fortnite is a co-op sandbox survival game developed by Epic Games and People Can Fly, the former also publishing the game. The game was released as a paid early access title for Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on July 25, 2017, with a full free-to-play release expected in 2018. # Fortnite is set in contemporary Earth, where the sudden appearance of a worldwide storm causes 98% of the world's population to disappear, and zombie-like creatures rise to attack the remainder. Considered by Epic as a cross between Minecraft and Left 4 Dead, Fortnite has up to four players cooperating on various missions on randomly-generated maps to collect resources, build fortifications around defensive objectives that are meant to help fight the storm and protect survivors, and construct weapons and traps to engage in combat with waves of these creatures that attempt to destroy the objectives. Players gain rewards through these missions to improve their hero characters, support teams, and arsenal of weapon and trap schematics to be able to take on more difficult missions. The game is supported through microtransactions to purchase in-game currency that can be used towards these upgrades. # A standalone mode, Fortnite Battle Royale, based on the battle royale game genre, was released for the same platforms in September 2017. # Gameplay # Currently, Fortnite provides two distinct modes: a player-versus-environment "Save the World", and a player-versus-player "Battle Royale". The latter mode was added after Fortnite's initial early access launch,4 and later offered as a separate free-to-play mode on September 26, 2017, that does not require the base game to play. # Battle Royale # Fortnite's "Battle Royale" mode follows similar gameplay mechanics as other battle royale games, particularly PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. This mode supports up to 100 players, either individuals or up to four-man squads, attempting to be the last man or team standing as they hunt other players and avoid being killed themselves. Players all start with no equipment outside of a pickaxe for resource gathering and parachute onto the map. Once they land, they can scavenge for weapons, armor, and resources, the latter which can be used to make structures in the same manner as the "Save the World" mode. Over time, a "storm" surrounds the area and makes it so that the "safe" area of the map shrinks down in size. Once the "safe" area has shrunk to the smaller circle on the map (a thin, white circle), it will generate, at a random location, a smaller circle within. Those caught outside the area take damage and potentially die if they remain outside it too long. There are also random air drops of resources, weapons, and items that may require players to construct floors and ramps to access, with varying randomized items determined by rarity. Players can use real money to purchase in-game currency, which can be used to purchase cosmetic items. # During The Game Awards 2017 on December 7, 2017, Epic announced and released a time-limited 50-versus-50 mode for Battle Royale, the first of several planned game modes. In this, players are randomly assigned to one of two teams, and play until only members of one team remain, with all other Battle Royale mechanics otherwise in place. The mode encourages players on a team to work together to scavenge resources in anticipation of the smaller safe areas, and then to build up forts when the safe area is small enough, protecting their own fortifications while trying to damage the other teams' and finish off the remaining players. # In their initial prototypes of the game, Epic had used more creepier and darker designs for the husks and other enemies. Bleszinski said that they found this to create an "exhaustive environment" that was too grim, and designed to take the design in a more cartoonish approach, while still remaining creepy, so that players would enjoy spending time in the game's world, nor try to compete with games like DayZ.21 They used works from Pixar, Tim Burton, and Looney Tunes as inspiration for the designs.2137 # Fortnite uses procedural generation to build out the maps for each mission. The game also includes an "AI director" that monitors how players are progressing, and alters the challenges of the monsters it sends out to the players based on that progression, easing off if players are having greater difficulty in surviving.38 At one point, the game had a team-based player versus player mode, where each side attempted to build up a base around a central target while trying to attack the opponent's target after breaking through their base. This did not make it into the final game. # Epic currently has cross-platform play between PC and PS4 and has stated plans to allow separate Fortnite cross-platform support for Xbox One and personal computer users, but cross-platform play between all three platforms has not been announced. However, for a few hours during one day in September 2017, players found they could cross-play between all three platforms. Epic later corrected this, calling it a "configuration error". # Battle Royale mode # In March 2017, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds was released on personal computers in early access, and quickly became a popular and successful game, becoming the defining example of the battle royale genre. According to Mustard, the Epic team "loved Battle Royale games like Battlegrounds", and explored how they could make a similar mode within Fortnite's engine. They kept this mode in a separate development team from the main player versus environment modes for experimentation and as to not throw off the balance in the main game. # The Battle Royale mode for Fortnite was announced in early September 2017 for release to early access users on September 26, 2017. However, within a week, Epic changed plans and decided to offer this mode as a standalone free-to-play game for Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One platforms to be released on September 26, 2017; those that had purchased early access to Fortnite in anticipation of this mode were offered refunds.41 This release, which beat out Battlegrounds to consoles, caused some concern with Battlegrounds developer Bluehole, as they had been working closely with Epic for Unreal engine support in Battlegrounds, and were worried that Fortnite may be able to include planned features to their Battle royale mode before they could release those in Battlegrounds. # With the popularity of Fortnite: Battle Royale by the start of 2018, Epic split off a separate development team to focus on improvements for that mode.45 Epic said that their attention to Fortnite was causing some of their other games to see lower player populations, leading them to reduce development efforts on these games, particularly Paragon. By the end of January 2018, Epic announced it was shutting down Paragon by April of that year, providing refunds to all players.47 Players on a Fortnite-dedicated Reddit forum had expressed concerns that a similar fate could befall the Save the World mode of Fortnite, as externally, the Save the World mode has not received the same attention in providing updates and improvements compared to the Battle Royale mode since that mode's release.